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I was being delicate with an age-related question when Gil Morgan stopped me mid-sentence.

"You can't believe I'm still around, is that what you're trying to say?" Morgan said, following that up with a "gotcha" smile.

Morgan, 68, is one of the real gentlemen on the Champions Tour. He and Bob Gilder are the only players to compete in all 15 editions of the Principal Charity Classic.

"We just keep going around, and around, and around," Morgan said.

His history with Iowa runs even deeper. Morgan played in the 1999 U.S. Senior Open at the Des Moines Golf and Country Club, tying for third. And in his PGA Tour days, he played the Quad Cities stop when it was held at Crow Valley in Bettendorf.

The Principal has been played at three different courses — Wakonda Club, Tournament Club of Iowa and Glen Oaks. That means he's competed on five different Iowa courses during his career.

"Iowa has been kind of good to me," Morgan said.

Morgan has won 25 times on the Champions Tour, including the 2006 Principal Charity Classic. This week was Morgan's 415th Champions Tour event. He won at least $1 million in 11 consecutive seasons. Now, as a career that includes seven wins on the PGA Tour winds down, he's playing a limited schedule.

"I'm not going to play again until the 3M Championship (starting July 31)," Morgan said. "I'm going to miss a bunch of big tournaments. But I've played all those before."

Sometimes, he wonders why he's playing at all.

"My game has improved a little bit this year, but the last couple of years have been drudgery," Morgan said. "I get to thinking, 'Why am I doing this?' I've still got eight holes to play, now five holes to play. I keep making mistakes."

Morgan knows the clock is ticking and the end of his career is near.

"I'm still making some dumb mistakes," Morgan said. "I think that's due to aging, mostly. My concentration level is waning over time."

Morgan has a lifetime of memories that he can lean back on when he's not chasing a little white ball around the country.

"When I go home, the trophies are there," Morgan said. "At the same time, it doesn't have that big of an impact on me. I was lucky to be able to do that. If I could just play a little better right now, I'd feel a lot better about the whole situation."

Morgan's secret to longevity starts on the tee and runs through the green.

"I've still got enough length, and that's one of the keys," Morgan said. "I think my fundamentals have always been really good. Those two things, and maybe a little bit of desire. My desire is waning as I go forward. All my bogeys and double bogeys create a lot of distress."

So how long will Morgan keep playing? It's an open-ended question.

"Sometimes I think I've got to be an idiot to keep doing this," Morgan said. "Making these bogeys and hitting it in the water. Three-putting, all that stuff, works on your psyche. But as long as I feel like I've got somewhat of a chance to play well, I'm probably going to keep playing."

In other words, when the field for the 2016 Principal Charity Classic is announced I suggest you look for these two words: Gil Morgan.

Columnist Rick Brown is a 10-time Iowa Sportswriter of the Year. Follow him on Twitter: @ByRickBrown.